WARNING: Language/ violence/ graphic imagery

Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own these characters. All rights belong to Marvel etc.

NOTE: The words in Italics that are not contained in "" [and that stand alone, not in a sentence] are the characters thoughts and not intended for others to overhear. [ although it does sometimes happen.]

The words in "Italics" are a conversation intended to be heard between the 'mind link'.

A hearty thanks to Nevrandil and Juliet for being excellent betas!

Loki already regretted it. Listening to Stark was like listening to his brother. They always make any plan sound smooth. That is, until the Bilgesnipe were stampeding around them after a well placed poke from Thor. He should have known better, right?
"Pleasetell me, again, why I am going to 'train' with you?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

Rogers smiled with pride."You were the one bad guy we had the most trouble beating. I think a little training with you could help us out."

Loki sneered and cast a look at Bruce. "You did not best me, I'm afraid my loss was due to someone much larger and greener. If you can even count that as a loss." Bruce simply shrugged and sat down at the edge of the training room. Barton was leaning against the wall chatting with his red-headed counterpart. They seemed to have gathered to watch the show. Loki frowned at his lover's absence, but was glad, at least, that Tony was finding a healthy interest in his projects again.

Tony could hear the chatter of his friends from his lab nearby. His usual loud music was off today, just in case something decided to possess him. He didn't want his body to wander off without anyone noticing due to what Loki called 'excessive noise'.
Ever since last night, he had a thought eating away at him. Actually, he had several thoughts, most of them centering on Loki's naked body above his. This one was something he couldn't quite place and so he had ended up asking Thor for help that morning.

"My brother's eyes have always been green. Why do you ask, Tony?"

Tony sighed and asked, "Were they green when he fought you here?" Thor looked thoughtful as he frowned in concentration. Tony groaned. Thor shouldn't have to think this hard about it.

The thunder god looked up sadly. "I honestly cannot answer this. I was too caught up in the battle and suffering...emotionally."

"Okay, big guy, don't break your brain. I'll just review some footage; do a little rooting around."

Thor continued to frown at him."You think my brother was lying about being controlled?"

Tony blinked at him and laughed. "What? No, actually, I think he was definitely being controlled by Thanos. I just...I think his eyes might have been blue?"

"Would it matter if they were or not?"

It was Tony's turn to frown. Loki's snakiness seemed to be rubbing off on his brother. "Actually, it might. Not in the way you think, though. Look," he said, patting the god's shoulder, "I'll look into it and let you know what it means. Okay?"
He had made his way down to the lab after suggesting to Captain Sparkle to train with Loki. Now alone with his thoughts, Tony grumbled at the footage he collected from the tower. It wasn't enough to compare and draw a conclusion from. Ever since the dark haired god had leaned down and kissed his reactor, he couldn't get his mind off the image. The blue light reflected in Loki's eyes seemed wrong but familiar.

"Jarvis, let's get that footage from the original lab when Loki first appeared through the Tesseract."

"Right away, sir."
Several folders flicked past on the screen before a password was required. Tony waited a second before Jarvis easily hacked it. With a smirk, he tuned back into the noise from the training room next door.

"Come on Steve, do it for America!"

Rogers spared a moment to glare at Clint, "Shut up, Barton! You're not helping." Ducking a moment later, he managed to avoid a blow from Loki. The god snickered at the super human who was avoiding all of his attacks. The man had started out confident but soon got confused. Loki promised to not use magic while they trained, simply to keep things interesting. He never promised to go easy on him.

"I am waiting for some sort of attack, Captain." Another snicker, this time from Natasha. Steve growled and dove forward, rolling to the side before quickly kicking out Loki's legs. The god easily maneuvered away, using much less energy than the soldier. An arm lashed out and caught Steve in the shoulder. The Captain fell backwards and seconds later Loki's foot paused just above his neck.

"Do you yield?" he asked, a smirk firmly in place. Steve grimaced, his body already covered with sweat whereas the god simply looked bored.
Grumbling he put his hands up. "I give up. You're way too fast for me."

Loki helped the man up. "That is nonsense, you could easily match my speed with a few lessons. Well, almost match my speed," he chuckled.
Rogers raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't know it, I would say you are encouraging me."
Loki snorted and rolled his shoulders to stretch. "You should see my brother and I train."

Tony stood, one hand cupping his chin as he watched the footage for the twentieth time. There was no doubt about it, Loki's eyes had been blue for most of his time on earth. There were only two instances where they seemed to revert to green. One was when they had caught him outside the hall in Germany before he started the whole mayhem thing. He was, apparently, gazing at a statue before walking into the hall. The footage was crap and he could barely make it out, but there was a definite shift in color as the god stared at the bronze sculpture of some guy with a lion head.
The second time Loki's eyes had gone green was when the two of them exchanged witty banter. Right before he threw Tony out a window.

Good times.

He watched and re-watched that footage a dozen times. He tried slow motion, no audio, only audio, filters, and lastly he just stared into the green eyes on screen. One second they were blue, the next they were melting into green. He could see a hint of confusion in the god's eyes, as though he didn't know what was going on.

"Jarvis, can you pin point exactly where the first hint of green comes in?" He watched closely as the video reversed to a point and pauses.
"Right there, sir."

Tony frowned. "What were we talking about at the moment?"

"You were telling him there was no throne for him, sir."
Tony's eyebrows arched in surprise, his hand going to scratch his beard.

Interesting.

Loki laughed loudly as he cast an appreciative look at the red head he was now sparring with. This seemed to catch her off guard, so he used it to take her down.

She landed heavily on her back with a grunt and glared up at him. "Did you just laugh to put me off?"

Loki continued to chuckle before helping her up."I would not do that on purpose. I was simply amused that you put up a better fight than the Captain."

Natasha's eyes narrowed, "Why, because I'm a woman?"

Loki snickered and leaned closer to her, mumbling, "Hardly, I come from a world of warrior women. It is amusing because he was engineered to be a more powerful soldier, while you were simply born with talent."
Natasha attempted to hold in her laughter and failed. Leaving to join Clint on the side of the room, she looked satisfied.

Loki scanned the room. "Anyone else? Captain, wish to try again?"

Tony was scribbling on one of the tablets for a while before he spoke. "Jarvis, you said before that SHIELD viewed all my files from the tower?"

"Yes, sir. They viewed and took notes on all footage from Loki's arrival to his departure."

Tony frowned at the 'departure' and tapped his pen. "Any chance I can see these notes?"

"Of course sir, you have already downloaded Director Fury's logs."

Tony grinned. "Bring em' up. Focus on key words 'color, control, blue, Tesseract' and show me."
His grin turned into a grimace as 180 files showed up. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed.
"Okay, take out 'Tesseract'."

Five files remained on screen and opened to show their contents. Tony glanced through the first two files from earlier dates before stopping on the third. There on screen it read, " Loki Laufeyson has been noted to have blue eyes. Although they are not the same as Agent Barton's, it is apparent the god is under control of the Tesseract and/or the staff from the apparent Thanos. "

Tony stared at the date in disbelief. It was a week before the incident in Germany. Just around the same time Coulson came to him with the files on the Avengers.

"That mother fucker knew..."

Loki was sparring with Rogers again when a loud crash echoed from the lab. They glanced at one another before hurrying over to inspect the noise.
Fearing that Tony had been turned into a puppet, Loki hung back slightly. What if, somehow, the monster had made it through the barrier? Once the door was reached, the two agents stood on either side and gestured for the others to go in first. Loki frowned and entered the room.

"Anthony, are you alright?" he asked, glancing around the room nervously. He spotted the shorter man near his work bench, a pile of metal and sparking wires at his feet. Tony was panting and glaring down at the mess before he noticed Loki.
"Loks... I'm fine. Just pissed off."

"Jesus, Tony! We thought you were wigging out under that thing's control," Clint grumbled, stepping into the room.

Tony snarled in response,"Yeah, speaking of control," his voice became cold, "Did you two Wonder Twins know Loki was under Thanos' control before we came back from our epic space journey? How about sometime before Germany?"

Clint paused as his eyebrows went up in confusion. Natasha had snuck into the room while Tony spoke and was reading the information on the screens. Her eyebrows furrowed as she reached the same document that Stark had been reading.
"You must be joking," she muttered.

Tony continued to glare at them."You're telling me you didn't know? Fury sure as hell knew."

Romanoff sighed and looked at Tony with an expression one would give an idiot child. "Contrary to popular belief, Clint and I are not always kept in the loop. Trust me," she glanced at the screens, her lips pressed together in anger, "if we had known, things would have been different."

Loki scoffed, causing everyone to look at him. He raised an eyebrow and gestured to the screen. "I doubt you would have had a choice. It seems Fury made his choice everyone's choice."

Clint snorted. "Well, as you already know, we don't always follow Fury. In fact, we don't follow him at all anymore because of you."

Bruce stood awkwardly by the door and raised a hand to get everyone's attention.
"Hey, while we're on that subject, has anyone been contacted by SHIELD since we stormed out? No spies, no hidden cameras?"

There was a round of shrugs across the room. Tony muttered something about SHIELD being unable to spy on a shoe.
Clint shook his head. "I've been out canvassing for a week. It looks like they're backing off for now." He stretched and wandered off to the training room again. Natasha raised her eyebrows and nodded to the door at the other two. They left sheepishly, muttering about training.

Once they were alone, Loki spoke,"Anthony..."

Tony hissed and kicked a spare gauntlet across the room."That slimy bag of dicks! "

"Tony! It's alright, even if you knew you would have-"

Tony rounded on the god and shouted, "Even if I knew?! No, you know what? Even if we weren't some sort of soul mates I would be pissed off! There's a wrong and there's a right. We weren't ordered to go after Barton with an 'aim to kill' order."

Loki was painfully silent. He had not wanted to bring the subject up or even be reminded of it. He argued internally before giving up and muttering quietly, "After Agent Coulson, I do not think any of you were so willing to assist me instead of killing me."

Tony froze where he stood, his heart fluttering painfully as he saw guilt and self loathing filling the god's eyes."Loks, even then I know I would still..." He sighed and looked down at the mess on the floor.

I was so angry about Phil...
If I had known he was being controlled, would I have felt any different?
I forgave him pretty fast as it is.
One day in a cave and I'm all over it.

He snorted. "I would have helped you. I can't say the others would have been right on board but I would have helped regardless of what they thought."

Loki looked skeptical as he walked over and gestured to the mess, sending it back up to the table."Tony, I know what I did while I was under control. I wasn't like you, this creature and its mindless puppetry. I had thoughts and emotions, albeit exaggerated by the magic. You know," he continued, moving closer and looking down at Tony with sad eyes," that I am not a good person. "

Watching his green eyes carefully, Tony asked, "Did you want to kill Phil Coulson?"

"No. I had no particular reason or desire to. It just... happened "

"Then it's fine."Loki shifted uncomfortably before Tony wrapped his arms around him. The god eyed him doubtfully as he continued, "It's fine to me, Loki. I thought you did your research on me when you came here?"

Loki blinked and rested his arms on Tony's shoulders. He looked thoughtful for a moment."I fail to see the relevance."

Tony nuzzled his head into the god's chest. It wasn't something he could easily talk about. Maybe talking to another accidental mass murder would be easier?
" 'Merchant of Death'. It has a good ring to it, much more heavy metal than say 'Merchant of Applesauce'." He paused, waiting for his invisible audience to laugh.
"That's what people called me. Not the applesauce, death."

Loki's voice sounded bored, "Please move on from this applesauce."

"Don't hate on it! It's a wondrous human invention that-"

Loki interrupted less gently,"Enough! Continue with what you were saying."

Loki moved to push Tony back but he clung to him, hiding his face in the god's chest before he continued."It's hard to talk about, okay? My company wasn't always gung-ho about clean energy. Originally, it was a weapons company. I just sorta' followed in my father's footsteps and ended up building a massive empire."
He paused, feeling a familiar rush of adrenaline as his memories crept back in.
"Well, it took one of my own missiles to go off right next to me to realize I was a 'baddy'. I know I'm supposed to be a genius, but I just didn't get it at the time. I was completely blind to what was going on in my company. My own weapons were being sold to the enemy, who were now killing soldiers from my own country. I sold weapons to U.S soldiers who went over and blew up foreign cities. I know who gets the brunt of war in their backyards, civilians." He shifted and tilted his head back to look at Loki.
"I was giving a bunch of boys some really fantastic toys to go kill one another. All the while trampling over innocent people's lives. To be honest, I'm ashamed that my first thoughts were anger and disgust that my 'enemy' had my weapons." He stopped and laughed nastily. " That's a lie, my first thought was 'ow'!'"

Loki looked concerned. "You were harmed?"

Tony laughed less bitterly, and tapped the reactor in his chest. "That's where this little baby came from. My chest was filled with shrapnel and they hooked me up to a car battery."
Tony felt Loki's body tense as his face grew dark.
"I had to keep the shrapnel out of my heart while my captors demanded I build them the fancy missile I was showing off earlier. I wasn't alone though...I had a friend there," he swallowed the lump that grew in his throat. " He was brave and helped me build my first Iron Man suit so we could escape. Of course, because life is a cold bitch, he didn't survive long enough to celebrate our freedom. "

Loki's tension eased out of his body, a dull sadness filling him instead. He could see the torment his lover was in as he told the story. Tightening his arms around the man, he asked,"You feel responsible for his passing?"

Tony smiled weakly and nuzzled his face back into Loki's chest."Hell yeah, I do. He wouldn't have even been there if it wasn't for me. If there is one good thing that came from his death, it's that it changed me. It always takes the death of a good man to make us gray-area boys get angry."

Loki frowned and rested his chin on top of Tony's brown locks. He wasn't sure of the intended purpose of Tony's story, but he felt worse than before. He never knew the details of what happened when Stark became Iron Man. Knowing them now, he understood the guilt he carried around inside behind his cheerful facade.

Oh, the nightmares.

Several nights they had spent together where Tony's mind had taken control of the shared dream. In them he sent them into some vehicle somewhere dry and hot. Tony always screamed and waved at the soldiers sitting around him to no prevail. Explosions and yelling surrounded them. He would watch as his lover lay in the dust as blood blossomed over his chest. He carefully drew him from those dreams into a happy memory of his own design. They would spend the rest of the night peacefully before waking up, both left with an aching memory of the nightmare.

Tony leaned away from him suddenly and looked up. "Loks, I think what I'm trying to say is... For all our brains, we are a couple of idiots. We got played, man. We got used, chewed up and spit out. Now here we are with another asshole who thinks he can play the same game? I don't fucking think so. I'm done being controlled. It's time to initiate our own attack."

Loki stares at him for a moment before a bubble of laughter escaped him. He smiled lovingly at his determined boyfriend before kissing Tony's forehead."Then, we shall be victorious."

A strong gust of wind shook the tower as rain threw itself relentlessly against the dark windows. The storm had come in sometime during everyone's stay downstairs and still lingered over the city several hours roared seconds after a series of blinding flashes struck some of the taller buildings around them. Tony chewed thoughtfully on his pen as his other hand slid through the raven-black hair of his lover. It was hard not to notice the amount of lightning around the tower.

Thor is probably having a nightmare about the end of Poptarts.

"Comfy, Loks?" he asked, glancing down at the god. Loki was stretched out the entire length of the couch with his head resting on Tony's lap. Apparently, emotional battles were heavier strains on his system than physical ones.

"Yes," he answered quietly, keeping his eyes closed.

Tony smiled and continued chewing on what was left of the pen hanging out of his mouth. His fingers danced in the air, tracing points and lines on the hologram in front of him. When his other hand reached the end of Loki's long black hair, he started from the top. The god's hair was surprisingly soft, considering how greasy it had been when this whole thing started. He discovered that he gained an irrational amount of pleasure from touching it and apparently Loki liked it too.

Muttering, he flicked something off across the room in the hologram.
Loki made a sound between a purr and a content groan.
Tony chuckled. "You're such a cat. Bruce was only half off about you and your bag of cats."

Loki growled and nuzzled his face into Stark's leg. "Did I not warn you about using that phrase?"

"Man, what do you have against cats? Were you beat up by a man in a Hello Kitty costume when you were a kid?"

Loki scoffed and rolled onto his back, now facing up to sneer at Stark. "I adore cats. I simply dislike being compared to a sack of them. Humans tend to place kittens in a sack with the intention of drowning them."

Tony raised an eyebrow and looked down at the irritated face. "Well aren't you a morbid little Muppet? "

"It is not I who came up with the horrendous process." Loki frowned and closed his eyes again.

Tony settled with petting the god's cheek now that his hair was no longer accessible.
"Hey, speaking of cats...what was it that caught your attention in Germany? That naked guy with a lion head? You looked like you came back to yourself when you saw it."
Tony continued to mess with the hologram for a while before giving up on work to look back down at Loki.

The god appeared to be thinking. A moment later, his eyebrows went up without opening his eyes. "Hmm, You mean the statue?"

Tony nodded and waited for an explanation before realizing Loki couldn't see him, "Yeah." His fingers continued to caress the god's cheek.

"The statute is of Don Ottevio. He is a character from the opera 'Don Giovanni'," he paused and opened his eyes again." It was the first and only opera I saw on my visits to Midgard."

"Wait, when was this?" Tony asked.

"1787, I believe." Chuckling at Tony's look of surprise, he continued, "I was on a visit with Thor. As usual, he spent most of the time in pubs making friends and celebrating with mortal maidens."

Tony laughed. "Uh oh, don't tell Jane about this."

"It was 226 years ago by your standards, Anthony. I doubt she would care."

Jarvis suddenly interrupted. "My apologies sir, but I think you should see this immediately."

Tony smirked at the god's obvious annoyance at the interruption. "Go for it, Jarv."

A screen appeared, showing screaming people and a small explosion. The announcer was explaining that a city in Rhode Island seemed to be under attack.
Tony frowned as he squinted at the screens. "Shit, I recognize that bastard. Jarvis, call everyone right now." Small icons of the Avengers appeared on screen simultaneously. Most of the pictures were from odd angles or taken when someone was sneezing. Tony liked to update them every month to something more embarrassing. Natasha picked up first, the video feed connecting as she muttered, "What?"

A second later Clint also appeared. "This better be good, Tony."

Stark's eyebrows flew up as he spotted red hair in the background of Clint's video. He opened his mouth to comment and shut it again after a famous 'Romanoff Death Glare'. Bruce and Steve both joined them, groggy with sleep.
"Alright, Avengers! We have a job to do and I need you to-"

A loud thud and a curse from the stairwell interrupted him. Thor stumbled his way through the door and shouted, "I SAW YOU CALLED, TONY! I am unable to use this device still. Do you require assistance?"

Loki's head popped up from Tony's lap as he glared at the blond god. There was a gasp from the video feed, tearing Tony's attention from the half dressed god of thunder.

"What the hell was Loki just doing off screen there?!"
Clint was wide awake now.
"Was he just-?!"
Natasha turned around and smacked his arm. Steve turned bright red, and looked away. Bruce looked as though he had fallen back asleep.

Tony frowned at his team. "You guys look pathetic. Do as Thor did, get down here and ASSEMBLE your asses! "

Once everyone managed to arrive, Tony explained what was happening with the help of visual aids. Groaning, everyone returned to their rooms to put on fight-worthy clothing.
Gathered again and slightly more awake, they started to argue. Well, he was doing most of the arguing.

"You are not going, Tony," threatened Bruce.

Tony growled, his anger building. "You're not my father, you don't get the luxury of ordering me around. Hell, even if you were my dad, I wouldn't listen."

"I'm not ordering you, I'm asking as a friend. Stay here where it's safe, please?"

"I'll be fine! Besides, Loki can back me up if anything seems wrong. This guy can smell that thing like a-"

Loki scowled at him. "I do not smell him! I sense his presence, that is all." He crossed his arms and glared at the rest of the team."I will, however, be there to help Anthony. I think he should go, before he blows up the tower out of sheer boredom."

Steve arrived late, suited up and holding his shield in one hand. He smiled apologetically and rubbed the back of his head. "Not to make matters worse, but I don't think letting you out in public would get good reception, Loki."

Loki's scowl deepened, "I can appear as someone else for the sake of the public. Now may we leave before we miss the entire battle?"

"Yes and yes," Tony said, grabbing his suit-calling bracelets. " You puny mortals take my jet; Thor can wing it as usual. Loks with me?"

Steve pouted. "Why can't we all be teleported there?"

Loki rolled his eyes, startling everyone as a ripple of gold flew over his body, changing his appearance. His body structure remained the same but his hair became short and dirty blond. A dark full bodysuit crawled over his body from the neck down, similar to a SHIELD uniform.
He smiled as red lensed goggles appeared over his green eyes. "I cannot hold on to all of you firmly enough for the journey. If one of you let go at any point you would be lost forever, or arrive in pieces."

"I'm going for the jet, thank you very much." Bruce shuddered and left the room with the rest of the queasy looking Avengers.

Thor smiled fondly at his now blond brother only to get a sneer in return."Do not say a word, Thor."

Pouting, the true blond god headed off to the roof to leave. Tony eyed Loki, admiring the way the fabric clung to his body. The blond hair wasn't so bad either, though a little too much Thor.
"Anthony, if you are done undressing me with your eyes, get your suit on and let's go."

Rolling his eyes, Tony summoned his suit. "Geez, someone's eager to get out of here," he said, as metal flew into the room and placed itself around his body. As soon as the suit was in place, Loki stepped forward and took his hand. Tony smiled warmly at the disguised god before slipping closed the faceplate. "I'm looking forward to our second date."

They arrived before everyone else, appearing in the middle of a small city. Loki frowned at the sight that surrounded them.

Well isn't THIS familiar.

There was little left of the small shops that once lined the street. The city was barely lit with what was left of its street lamps. Smoke bellowed out of a movie theatre as a few people ran past, screaming. Beside them was a university campus, its lawn now littered with rubble. Loki observed the scene carefully, locating the main source of danger immediately.

He tapped Tony's metal shoulder and thought,
"Anthony, he is on top of the building across the lawn."

The Iron Man nodded and took off towards the set of buildings as Loki followed below on foot. He was soon greeted by a mass of crawling robots. He hissed in annoyance and worked his way through them, quickly discovering their weakness in the back of their necks. Peering up at the roof, he frowned at the exchange of blasts between to two metal men. Tony had said he knew the man. Apparently he was a common threat.

"Who is he? Are these robots of his invention?"

Loki teleported to the roof of another campus building, squinting around carefully for targets. Crouching down, he waited for his lover's response.

Tony responded grumpily, "This would be Dr. Doom. I've met him a few times here or there. He wasn't a bad inventor until he went bat shit insane." There was a huff of laughter. "He's usually a lot more boring than this. Until he brings out the magic, anyway."

Loki frowned and drew his attention back to the robots swarming the streets below. Taking a deep breath, he raised his arms and performed a few sharp movements with his hands. Below, dozens of robots fell to the ground, lifeless.

There was a loud grating voice from behind him. "Oooh? Another magician, hmm? I see the Avengers are stepping up their game."
Loki tensed to turn and was caught by a blow that sent him off the edge of the roof. Tony shouted something as he fell towards the ground before Loki grunted and teleported back onto the roof.

Dr. Doom whistled. "Nice job, young one."

Raising an eyebrow, Loki sneered at his opponent. "I am thousands of years older than you, boy."

Tony landed by his side and whimpered frantically into Loki's mind.

"Loks!?Are you alright? That hit you square on."

Loki turned his glare to Stark. "Silence, I am fine."

"Thousands of years old?! How is this possible when you look younger than Stark?" asked the larger metal man.

Tony yelled, "HEY!? At least say 'the same age'."
Doom growled, and shot a self contained force field that sent Tony flying off the roof. Unmoving, Loki frowned at Doom as if bored.

"You must tell me your secret." Doom's voice held a hidden threat.

Loki snorted and crossed his arms. "I think not. Why would one so hideous as yourself wish to live forever in such a state?"

There was an audible snap in the air before the armor-clad man howled with rage. Loki snickered and removed himself from sight. He reappeared seconds later, bouncing and running around the roof as Doom shot blasts of energy after him.

The real Loki smirked as he landed effortlessly next to Stark on the ground below.
"That should keep him occupied until the others get here. What exactly do we do with him once he's subdued?"

Tony sighed quietly and scanned the area for more robots. "Usually SHIELD gets him. I guess we should let those bastards hold him, even if we don't work for them anymore. Let me make a call..." He paused when he noted robots heading towards the main street. "Are you too busy with your threesome game with Doom, or can you nab those robots while I call this in?"

Loki smirked at the mortal before disappearing once again from sight. He felt a small tug as Doom managed to blast the copy of himself. He sent another one in its place as he jumped on top of a car.

Odin be damned, there are still people over here.

Raising his arms yet again, he snapped the necks of all the robots he could see. Several managed to creep away under cars to start chasing people again.

Annoying.

His magic was not flowing as easily while his attention was split between the fight with Dr. Doom and here. He jumped after the robots on foot, conserving as much energy as possible. A loud scream rang out from one of the nearby alleyways and was cut off abruptly. That was never good. No one stops screaming that suddenly unless something stops it for them. Reaching the alley, he groaned at the sight in front of him. The robots were generally harmless to Stark and himself, but to regular humans, it seemed, they were quite dangerous. A tinge of regret hit him as his eyes attempt to find movement in the carnage. He had been on many battlefields, but those bodies had been grown men, not women and children. No one can remain stoic while looking into the dead eyes of a child. Loki shivered and turned his anger on the robots. Two of them explode with a flick of his wrist, the other managed to scuttle away again.

He screamed as a sudden, sharp pain stabbed through his leg. He looked down and saw that a robot had punctured his calf with a barbed spear. It went all the way through his leg. Loki immediately snapped the creature in half, groaning at the pain radiating up through his body. Kneeling down, he inspected the bleeding wound in the darkness of the ally.

Wonderful, I can feel its poison already.

The spear was firmly embedded in his flesh due to the hooks caught in his leg. One was twisted around the bone, grating against it painfully. He stood and winced, nearly losing his balance. Why of all times did he get distracted by mortal emotions?

"Uh, Loks? Your double is gone and Doom is ready to start searching. You alright?"

Loki grumbled internally at Tony's flippant tone and responded in a weak voice ,

"Something happened and I lost my concentration. Is anyone else here yet?"

Tony's voice snapped loudly in his mind like a flash of lighting. "What happened!? Where are you? I'll be right there. "

Although he was touched at Tony's concern, sentiment was not necessary.

Well, Maybe a little necessary.

Smiling faintly he bent down to touch the metal protruding from his leg. He had to be sure the device moved with him if he wanted to keep both of his legs. A moment later he was once again on the dully lit lawn of the college.

"I am here, Anthony."

Tony jumped at his voice and came over to him. The faceplate was flipped up, showing a pale, concerned face looking him up and down. "Oh shit, Loks. We gotta' get that out of there. Knowing Doom, it has some sort of poison crap on it."

Before he could respond, a spiral of wind formed around them. Loki had a split second to grab Stark and teleport to one side before Thor landed, the earth cracking beneath his feet.
Loki stumbled and fell on his back, his energy growing weaker by the moment.
He glared up at Stark, daring him to make a comment, and shouted to his brother from the grass, " Thor, voldugu þú fávita! Watch where you are landing!"

There was a curse from somewhere nearby before Dr. Doom's grating voice projected across the common. "So your golden boy is here? I should be going before the rest of your ants arrive."

There was a crackle as the large metal man shot into the air, leaving the city. Loki grumbled and stood quickly, ignoring the pain.
He snapped at his older brother, "Great job, you oaf. A grand landing that nearly killed us, in the middle of a fight with an enemy. Good plan."

Thor bowed his head. "I apologize, this was not how I intended to arrive." His eyes fell on Loki's bleeding leg. "BROTHER, you are harmed!?"

"Don't!" Loki hissed, stepping behind Tony. "It may be poisoned, and now is not the time for this. Isn't there someone you two should be chasing?"

Tony gave his lover a pointed look and kissed his cheek before taking off. Loki smiled to himself, reminded for a moment of their recent night together. He didn't bother to reign in his wandering thoughts, as he wasn't much of use right now as it was.
Thor stood a moment longer, his head tilted with an ear to the wind. His fingers slipped into the leather loop attached to the end of his hammer. "Brother, I hear the jet arriving. Perhaps they can help you."

Loki simply nodded at Thor as the god swung the hammer into the air. Loki stood in silence, his eyes following the receding dot that was his brother. He sighed, alone in the field of rubble with the sound of a jet filling the air as it landed somewhere nearby.

Tony had no concentration for the pursuit. He had left his mind and heart back at the college, back with Loki. Why did that damn god have to be so stoic all the time? Was it so hard to at least look like it hurt?

Like I'm one to talk.
Mr. Drink-My-Problems-Away.
...Well, not anymore but -

"TONY! DO YOU SEE HIM?" Thor's shout came from a blur of a figure above him. Tony bit back a snide remark and amplified the suits volume. "HE'S UP AHEAD ABOUT A MILE!" Ignoring the little knot of jealousy at the god's speed, he flew on.

I hope he chokes on a bug.
Dammit, I just want to go back to Loki.

He frowned and sent a small thought back to Loki.
"Loks, I'm going to be annoying now. Are you sure you're okay?"

The god's thoughts entered his mind in a sluggish manor.
"I am...decent. Do you have...him?"

Tony squinted. "Jarvis, can you see what's going on up there?"

The British voice answered, "Apparently Thor has collided with him and they are heading towards the ground, sir."

Tony rolled his eye and dove down after them, unsure of what exactly he was expected to do.
Loki's voice trickled into his head quietly.
"Anthony?"

Oh shit, he forgot to reply.
"Yeah, babe, I'm here. Give me a few minutes and I'll be right back."

He landed heavily, a cloud of dust obscuring his view. Flicking his mask open, he noticed an odd clanking sound to his left. Following it, he spotted a form in the dust.
There lay Dr. Doom, flailing around on his back like a turtle. Thor's hammer was smack in the middle of the man's chest.
Tony let out a satisfied laugh and grinned at Thor. "Nice work, Point Break!"Chuckling he flipped his mask down once more. "I'm gonna' head back and let everyone know where you are."

Thor smiled slowly. "Check on Loki for me, please?"
Tony snorted and shook his head before taking off.

Tony landed heavily on the campus lawn and stumbled badly before catching himself on parts of a building.

Natasha was there to laugh at him.
"Beautiful landing, I give you a 5."

Loki tsked. "You are far to kind, Ms. Romanoff. He came in too fast, one foot caught behind the other, and he only barely managed to stay erect. I give him a 2.5, for effort."

Tony scowled as he tilted his mask up. "Nice to see you're feeling fine, if not a little too lively. "

Natasha nodded solemnly."You know, Loki, you're right. He tripped over his own leg, I'm lowering my vote down to a 3."

"Is he dying? If not, can I hit him?" Tony asked, pointing at his boyfriend.

Loki's face grew sad as he looked at Stark."She was the one who brought it up. You would hit me even though I am unwell and weak?"

Tony paused long enough to feel guilty before a Loki smirked again.

That little bastard!

"Anthony, come here for a moment. I need something from you." Loki wriggled a finger at him. Grumbling half heartedly, he made his way over to the god. Loki was sitting on a pile of what looked like pillars from one of the college buildings. His wounded leg was stretched out with the spear still in it, bleeding all over the place. As Tony neared, he noticed that Loki was shaking.

"Come on, come closer." Loki purred, reaching his hands out to him.

Tony retracted his suit into its suitcase before reaching the god and grasping his hands.
"What do you need, Loks?"

Smiling, Loki pulled Stark's head down, his lips inches away.
"I need a little of this," he whispered before kissing Tony deeply. A shock jumped through his chest, traveling through his lips into the god in front of him. There was a loud snap before Loki broke the kiss, licking his lips with a look of satisfaction.

Tony glanced down at the god's leg and snorted in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me? You needed a kiss to heal your leg?" He laughed in amazement at the perfectly clean and healed leg before him. "Even your damn clothes are fixed."

Loki smiled and stretched out, a shimmer of gold danced over his body and his black hair re-emerged. "If SHIELD is on its way, I would rather not be here," Loki said to Natasha, before turning to direct his question to Stark. "Shall we go?" Tony glanced at Natasha and received a nod of approval.

Grinning, Tony grabbed Loki's arm. "Let's get out of here."

Loki purred, "As you wish," before they vanished.

So, it's a long one.

I have so many thanks to my reviewers and I am overwhelmed at the amount of people who seem to like this.

I really didn't expect such a large following!

/

Review please!

[ What's going on with the fonts here?]